School milk must be offered to all pupils from the New Year, it emerged last night.

Officials believe it forms a key part of a healthy diet. They also hope the measure will slash pupils’ consumption of fruit juices, with their high sugar content.

The change comes in new school food standards released today.

The overhaul of school meals was announced as Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was joined by TV chef Lorraine Pascale at Foresters Primary School in London

Under then changes, pupils will be offered three types of fruit a week, but fruit juice will be limited

They will specify that semi-skimmed milk ‘must be available for drinking at least once a day’ in all primary and secondary institutions. However, it will not be free for all.

Reinstating the place of milk in daily school life is a remarkable turnaround for the Conservatives. It has been an emotive issue for the party since the then Education Secretary Margaret Thatcher was nicknamed the ‘milk snatcher’ in 1971 for scrapping the free drink for the over-sevens.

Four years ago David Cameron had to stop his higher education minister’s plans to axe it for under-fives to cut costs.

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The food standards to be unveiled by Education Secretary Michael Gove today aim to clamp down on sugary and fried products. The milk will also help address concerns about low calcium levels in children.

Currently, schools are only encouraged to offer ‘healthy drinks’ to pupils and many do not offer milk at all.

Milk must be offered to all schoolchildren under the new food standards

Obesity campaigners welcomed the measure but said they would have gone further in trying to cut juice consumption.

The under-fives will continue to get their milk for nothing but older pupils will be charged, except for those on free school meals – but it is hoped making small cartons available will encourage more pupils to make a habit of drinking it.

A Department for Education source said: ‘This is new. We hope making low fat milk regularly available at least once a day will help encourage children to have healthier diets’.

The return of milk follows a review of school dinners by restaurateurs Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent. That came after the high-profile campaign begun by Jamie Oliver in 2005 to improve pupils’ food.

They concede meals have improved dramatically over the years since the celebrity chef’s crusade against fast food horrors such as Turkey Twizzlers – which were later banned.

But officials say the guidelines brought in by New Labour– which forced schools to submit meal plans and samples to a laboratory to check their nutritional content were too complex and bureaucratic.

Under the guidelines, fruit juice will be restricted to one 150ml glass per day from January amid growing evidence of the damaging effect of its rich natural sugars on children’s developing teeth.

Many nutritionists now recommend that children are only allowed one small glass of fruit juice per week as a treat.

The new guidelines will specify portions from particular food groups as opposed to dictating precise menus.

Children must be offered three different types of fruit a week and only two portions of food cooked in oil such as chips, battered fish or chicken nuggets.

Wholegrain carbohydrates such as brown rice are approved, while refined foods such as white bread are out.

The new rules are intended to make meals more ‘creative’ than under the current system which calls for them to contain specific levels of nutrients such as zinc, vitamin A and folic acid.

The food standards to be unveiled by Education Secretary Michael Gove aim to clamp down on sugary and fried products offered to children

Newly created academies and free schools will also have to follow the food guidelines. Until now, academies – free from council control and set up post-2010 – had been free to make their own rules.

This caused controversy last year when research showed nine out of ten academies were selling pupils chocolates and crisps which are banned in other state schools. Existing academies will be encouraged to follow the new guidelines.

The Department for Education said the new standards would be easier to enforce and allow schools to be more ‘creative’ in what they serve and make food preparation a ‘joyful’ experience.

Henry Dimbleby said: ‘This is about encouraging healthier habits and we are trying to encourage milk and water as drinks of choice. Fruit juice is as sugary in many cases as canned soft drinks.’

Mr Gove will say today: ‘These new food standards will ensure all children are able to eat healthy, nutritious meals at school.

‘We now have a clear and concise set of food standards which are easier for cooks to follow and less expensive to enforce. Crucially we have achieved this without any compromise on quality or nutrition.’

Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum welcomed the crackdown on sugary juices, but said he would have gone further in restricting it to one small glass per week.

Mr Fry said: ‘Fruit juice is known to be really laden with sugar, and it needs to be a treat not an everyday occurrence. The preference in schools should be water which is hugely beneficial.’

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School milk for all pupils: Gove demands less fried food, fruit juice and sugar in overhaul of meals